Bunny Levine Dies: Librarian Turned Actress Who Appeared In Everything From ‘Gilmore Girls’ To Adam Sandler Movies Was 97
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- Bunny Levine, a former New Jersey school librarian, has died at 97 after roughly four decades of steady character work in television and film.
- Levine graduated from college in 1951 and worked as a school librarian before taking early retirement to pursue acting full time, telling her alma mater's newspaper in 2025 she couldn't explain the lifelong pull: "Maybe it's in the genes."
- Standing 4'10", Levine appeared in single-episode roles as "Old Lady," "Kindly Older Woman," or "Grandma" across shows including Gilmore Girls, Shameless, Law & Order, Criminal Minds, Community, Ugly Betty, Everybody Loves Raymond, As the World Turns, Fuller House, and Mayans M.C.
- Levine was cast opposite Adam Sandler in Don't Mess With the Zohan (as "Older lady in the salon") and in an uncredited grandmother role in Sandy Wexler, and also appeared as a movie theater cashier in La La Land.
- Her film credits stretched from 1990's Cadillac Man with Robin Williams and Tim Robbins to 2024's Thelma opposite June Squibb, when she was in her mid-90s.
- Variety's parallel obituary coverage ran on Nashville manager Dale Morris rather than Levine, leaving her late-blooming career as a second-act Hollywood story largely uncovered elsewhere in the listed cross-coverage.
Why it matters: Levine's career arc — from New Jersey school librarian to working actress in her late 50s, logging nearly 40 years of single-episode television roles and late-career film appearances through age 95 — is a rare example of a second-act Hollywood career built on character work, with her final credited role in 2024's Thelma at roughly 95.
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